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Bob Marley

A novel revisiting the December 1976 assassination attempt on reggae star Bob Marley is due out soon. The book, A Brief History of Seven Killings, is by Jamaican Marlon James, the Irish RTE.ie website reports. James looks at what could have sparked the shooting which took place December 3 at the singer’s Hope Road home (now the Bob Marley Museum) in St Andrew.

Marley, his wife Rita, manager Don Taylor and friend Louis Simpson were shot by marauding gunmen. Marley was hit in the left arm.
He and his band, the Wailers, were rehearsing for the Smile Jamaica concert scheduled for December 5 at National Heroes Park.

Marley, on a high with his Rastaman Vibration album, was headliner for the show which was organised by the government of prime minister Michael Manley to ease tension between politically-aligned gangs.

Marley, who went into hiding after the incident, performed on the show but left Jamaica on self-imposed exile for almost two years. No one was ever arrested for the attack which inspired the Marley song, ‘‘Ambush in The Night’’. – Jamaica Observer.